February 15, 2021
Susana Marcos, at left, will become the David R. Williams Director of the Center for Visual Science and the inaugural holder of the Nicholas George Professorship at The Institute of Optics. Pablo Postigo will serve as a professor at The Institute of Optics.
Dear members of the Hajim School community,
Please join me in welcoming Susana Marcos and Pablo Postigo!
Effective July 1, Susana will become the David R. Williams Director of the Center for Visual Science and the inaugural holder of the Nicholas George Professorship at The Institute of Optics with a joint appointment in Ophthalmology. Pablo, her husband, is also joining The Institute as a professor.
This is fantastic news for the Hajim School, the University, and the entire vision community. Susana, a professor and director of the Visual Optics and Biophotonics Lab at the Instituto de Óptica, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) in Madrid, Spain, is an internationally recognized expert in the optics of the eye and the interactions of light with the retina. She is a worthy successor to David Williams, who has directed the Center for Visual Science for three decades and can now devote full time to his pioneering research in adaptive optics.
Pablo, who joins us from the Institute for Micro and Nanotechnology at CSIC, brings expertise in the design, fabrication, and characterization of new nanophotonic devices, which ties in nicely with our ongoing research in this exciting field.
We are grateful to John Bruning, a University trustee and member of our Dean’s Advisory Committee, and his wife Barbara for their $2 million gift endowing Susana’s named directorship. They have been consistent supporters of the University, especially in facilitating growth at The Institute of Optics. We are also grateful to Milton Chang, the Close family, Joseph Goodman, and Michael and Ruth Morris for their gifts that endowed the Nicholas George Professorship. Special thanks to Tyrone Jimmison, our executive director for advancement, and to Derek Swanson, our associate director for advancement, for all their help in making this happen. Read more here.
STUDENT RECOGNITION
When COVID-19 limited the availability of social and study places, one pandemic-fatigued student asked, “What does virtual reality have to offer?” This inspired the Dream University Challenge, sponsored by the River Campus Libraries’ Barbara J. Burger iZone and Studio X, with support from the Hajim School. Throughout most of last month, two teams of students engaged in a hackathon-style challenge to imagine, design, and build virtual University of Rochester spaces that would provide them and their peers with opportunities to connect.
For example, sophomores Sophea Urbi Biswas, Koshala Mathuranayagam, and Miguel Yakouma, all of biomedical engineering, and Joey Chan of digital media studies created UR Haven, featuring Pee-wee Herman, a playhouse, café area, a three-leafed clover-shaped theatre space, and even a Winter Wonderland snowy area that allows you to build snow castles or have a snowball fight.
Debamitra Chakraborty, a PhD student in the Materials Science Program; Siladitya Khan, a PhD student in biomedical engineering; Carolina Lion He ʼ21 of digital media studies; and Sydney Santiago of brain and cognitive sciences, created Dream Rush Rhees, a furnished patio space on the Eastman Quad, replete with sofas and armchairs. At one end, there’s a ping pong table; at the other end, a drive-in-movie-style screen with a stately fountain in between.
Congratulations to all of these students for their remarkable creations, to Emily Sherwood, director of Digital Scholarship and Studio X, and everyone else who made this hackathon possible, and to Matthew Cook, communications officer, for capturing the collaborative spirit that “made this more of an educational bonding experience than a competition.” This is a great example of the creativity of our students–and the outstanding opportunities they have at our University to explore cutting-edge technologies.
Students who missed out on the Dream University Challenge can explore the same technology this week. River Campus Libraries is hosting two tech workshops for Studio X—Create Your Own VR Escape Room today, February 15, at 6 p.m. EST, and Create a 3D Animal with Blender on Thursday, February 18 at 6 p.m. EST.
Congratulations as well to:
Ethan Hunt ’23 and Terra Spurgeon ’22, both biomedical engineering majors, who, along with 28 other undergraduates, will be working with University Health Service (UHS) as public health ambassadors this semester to raise awareness of safety precautions during the COVID-19 pandemic. As Ethan notes, “the goal of this semester is to make sure people realize we’re all becoming more condensed by returning to campus, so we need to realize that actions have consequences. We need students to carry over what they did in the first semester, since the (COVID) results were pretty good.” Read more here.
STUDENT RESEARCH OPPORTUNITY
The University’s generation, use, and management of energy includes electricity, steam, hot water, and now solar with the new array of panels atop Goergen Athletic Center. This involves a complex web of people, processes, equipment, and data. The Utilities and Energy Management (UEM) Office of UR facilities would like to provide access to this information to students for use in independent study programs, senior design projects, and research. I encourage our students to take advantage of this opportunity, especially our Grand Challenges Scholars who will find opportunities here to address issues of sustainable energy. Students can review a manual of projects and how to participate. If interested, contact Mike Whitmore, UEM director, or talk to your department’s UEM contact listed in the manual.
SPEAKER: BEING A MINORITY IN STEM
Markell Baldwin, a staff engineer with Tesla, will share his insights with students about working in the industry as well as what it is like to be a minority in STEM. His talk at 8 p.m. this Thursday, February 18 is co-sponsored by the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) and the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) to help commemorate Black History Month. You can hear Markell’s talk at this zoom link: https://rochester.zoom.us/j/92158949681 SHPE will be hosting more talks/speakers every two weeks.
IMPORTANT REMINDERS
Thinking about entering our annual Art of Science Competition? Time is running short! Submissions from currently enrolled students, faculty, and staff are due March 19, only about four weeks away. Photographs, illustrations, visualizations, renderings, and posters showing an artistic representation of science, technology, engineering, math, and sustainability themes can be entered at our online submission form; cash prizes of $1,000, $500, and $250 will be awarded to winning student entries. All other entries will be eligible for a People’s Choice Award of $250. For inquiries, contact Brian McIntyre and the project team at artofscience@gmail.com.
Reminder to faculty members: The Hajim School is providing an extra round of Sykes Award funding this year to support the development of innovative curricular courses or programs for engineering and computer science students, especially for first- and second-year students. The deadline to apply is March 15. Awards range from $2,500 to $30,000. Submit a proposal describing details on program content, budget and budget justification, and the benefit for students via email to Tim Woodward, director of finance and administration at tim.woodward@rochester.edu. If you have any questions, contact Tim or associate dean Paul Funkenbusch at paul.funkenbusch@rochester.edu.
Have a great week!
Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman
